Two computers (if you can afford it), two operating systems (on each computer - not counting windows), two backup destinations (one online, one offline), two backup programs (eg. dropbox and unison - although I would always include clonezilla as well) two browsers, two window managers, two text editors, two accounts packages, two mail programs, etc. etc. I am sure you get the idea by now, it is fully explained by the words in red.

Sooner or later when one of these items fails (even temporarily) the other will allow you to carry on as normal until you sort out why the first one has failed.

The beauty of Linux is that it allows you to do this with virtually no cost (except the two computers bit!) - try that with Microsoft.

Here is a very tiny tip that I stumbled on while paging through Ubuntu Kung Fu, by Keir Thomas: To rename a file/folder in Nautilus, click on it, then press the F2 key. Much simpler than right-click, then scroll through a menu to pick out the Rename choice. So simple!

What Is the Command Line?The command-line interface, sometimes referred to as the CLI, is a tool into which you can type text commands to perform specific tasks—in contrast to the mouse's pointing and clicking on menus and buttons. Since you can directly control the computer by typing, many tasks can be performed more quickly, and some tasks can be automated with special commands that loop through and perform the same action on many files—saving you, potentially, loads of time in the process.

Note:This article is meant for people who are either new to the command line or only have a couple of command-line tricks up their sleeve. If you're already conversant with most basic commands, you can send this article to others that still aren't up to your skill level and spread the good word about how great the command line really is.

The command line isn't just for wise Linux gurus. It's actually an awesome tool with almost limitless functionality. Here's a primer on how it works, and how you can do almost anything with it.

Not sure if these have been mentioned here (a quick search didn't turn up anything), but here are links to a couple of free books in .pdf format for folks interested in learning about the command line in Linux:

This small how-to will explain some steps on how to remove Windows 7 from your computer, and resize Linux Mint so that it uses the space that Windows 7 used to use. To do this we will use a excellent partitioning program called Gparted.

NoteYou will need a LiveCD of Linux Mint for this tutorial. Remember to backup any files you want to keep from Windows 7. I recommend backing up to a usb pen drive or external hard drive.I refer to screenshots during the how-to, which can be found at the bottom of the how-to.My partitons may be different than yours so just adapt this how-to to apply to your partitons.Now to get started

**STEP 1 - Boot up into the Livecd of Linux Mint, after it has loaded enter Gparted into the filter textbox of the Mint Menu. Then click on Gparted from the menu.After Gparted has loaded, you will see a list of all the partitons on your computer. Look at the 1st screenshot, it is a screenshot of the partitions on my computer. I currently have LM9 (sda6 & sda5) in its own partition (sda1) then I have two partitions Windows 7 created (sda2 & sda3). For this how-to i have based it on my own partitions, note that the names/sizes and layout of your partitions may be different.

**STEP 2 (Deleting Windows 7) - To delete windows 7 right click on its partitions and click delete. The windows 7 partitons will be the NTFS partitons if your not sure. You should now see 2 operations listed at the bottom of Gparted. Look at the 2nd screenshot to see how mine looks after I have told Gparted I want it to delete the Windows 7 partitions. Note that Gparted wont actually perform these operations until we tell it to. It may look like on Gparted that the Windows 7 partitions have now gone but there still there.

**STEP 3 (Resizing Linux Mint and moving swap partition) - If you look at the 1st screenshot I have Linux Mint's partition(sda6) and its swap partition(sda5) within a partition(sda1). This means that both these partitions are limited by the overall size of the partiton their in(sda1). So I will need to resize the sda1 partition to use all of the remaining free space.If you dont have the Linux mint partition and swap in a partition then you wont need to do. If so skip down to the sentence that starts with ##To resize the partition right click on it and click 'resize/move'. Drag the right arrow of the partition all the way to the right. Once you have done this click the 'resize/move' partition. ## Now we have to move the swap partition over to the end of the partition or hard drive. Right click on the swap partition and click 'resize/move' now drag and move the coloured box with the two arrows all the way to the right. Just like i have done in screenshot 3. Then click the 'resize/move' button.Now we can resize the Linux Mint partition, right click it and click 'resize/move' then drag the right arrow to the right as far as you can then click the 'resize/move' button. Just like i have done in screenshot 4.If you look at the 5th screenshot you can see that the partitions are all setup completely now and the operations are ready to be started (ignore the unallocated 2mb space in my screenshot)

**STEP 4 (Checking & Applying Operations) - Check now that you are satisfied with how the partitions are now setup and the operations that Gparted will perform. We can now tell Gparted to perform the operations by clicking the green arrow within Gparted. Note it may take 5 or 10mins or even longer for the operations to be completed, depending on how you have chosen to setup the partitions. You will know that Gparted has finished becuase it will display 'All operations finished'.Now we can Exit gparted and reboot the computer.You should now have successfully removed Windows 7 from your computer and Linux Mint is now able to use all the space you have giving it.Job done

Below is a additional step on removing the Windows 7 entries from the grub menu. Note that it isnt necessary.If you want to remove the Windows 7 entries from the grub menu, just login into Linux Mint, open the terminal and enter sudo update-grub Enter your password if you are asked for it. Note that you wont see your password while you entering it. Hit enter then you should see all the remaining entries listed in the terminal.You can now close terminal because were done

SCREENSHOTS - 1 - 2 - 3 4 - 5 -

Last edited by cra1g321 on Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hi, i am the lazy spoiled member who has been piggybacking on the shoulders of Mint gurus for more than a year now, here's a little tip from me, always keep in reserve a kernel upgrade option in Synaptic. When there's a problem that just cannot be nailed as i had here; viewtopic.php?f=49&t=53531, you will find that a kernel upgrade will most likely fix it.

PS: If this is bad advice please feel free to flag this post and remove it.

You've read about an enhancement (or fix for an especially annoying bug) for an application, and you just have to get it. So what do you do?

Well, if you're particularly adventurous, you can always go to the application's web site, download the source, and try to compile it. Unfortunately, this often leads you down a path of seemingly never-ending build dependencies that must be handled before the code will compile to completion.

However, someone else has probably gone to the trouble of compiling the new version, wrapping it up in an easy-to-install Debian (APT) package, and posting it to a Personal Package Archive on LaunchPad.net.

Installing a package from a PPA is pretty easy; just follow these general steps:

1. Using a web browser, search LaunchPad.net for the PPA with the app or update you need.

2. Once the PPA's page has loaded, expand the "Technical details about this PPA" section, and copy the appropriate "debhttp://ppa.launchpad.net/..." line to the clipboard. Make sure the Ubuntu distribution version identifier matches up to your version of Linux Mint ("karmic" = Helena, "lucid" = Isadora, "maverick" = Julia, etc.).

3. Start "Synaptic", go to Settings --> Repositories, click the Other Software tab, then click the Add... button. Paste the contents of the clipboard into the APT line field with Control-V, then click the Add Source button.

4. Switch back to the PPA web page, and click the "Signing key" link. In the "Search results" page that appears, click the 8-digit hex number in the "keyID" column. This will take you to the page containing the actual PGP Public Key for the PPA.

5. Select all of the text in the PGP Public Key page with Control-A, then copy the text to the clipboard.

6. Start "gEdit"/"MousePad"/"Kate"/whatever, and paste the contents of the clipboard into a new, blank text file. Save this text file as "ppa-name.key" (or some other descriptive name). Close the text editor.

7. Go back to the Synaptic "Software Sources" dialog box. Click the Authentication tab, then click the Import Key File... button. Find and select the "ppa-name.key" file you saved in Step 6, above.

8. Once you've verified that the key has been added to the Trusted software providers list, click the Close button. Synaptic may throw up an alert indicating that the Repositories have changed; that is to be expected.

9. Click the Reload button in Synaptic, then click the Status button. The new/updated application should now appear in either the "Installed (Upgradeable)" or "New in Repository" section.

10. Mark the new or updated software for installation, then click the Apply button to install it.

I should note that there are other ways of installing software from PPAs; the ten steps listed above can be condensed into three or four shell commands (mostly consisting of "sudo apt-key ...", "sudo apt-add-repository ...", and "sudo apt-get install ..."). However, I believe that going through the steps presented above can provide a deeper insight into how Debian/APT package management works behind-the-scenes.

PPAs (LaunchPad.net Personal Package Archives) Can be Your Enemy:

While the distribution of potentially malicious software on LaunchPad.net is (or has been, to this point) a very rare occurrence, it can happen. The best way to protect your system (and your personal and private data) from malicious packages is to be vigilant:

1. Be wary of PPAs that offer binary packages without links to the corresponding source code and patches. The key to F/LOSS (Free/Libre` Open Source Software) is that the source code is available for examination and scrutiny. If the PPA maintainer isn't providing access to the source code and patches used to build the package, then what is the maintainer hiding?

2. Check LaunchPad.net for bugs posted against a package. If a lot of bugs have been filed, but the PPA maintainer hasn't answered, avoid the package.

3. Search UbuntuForums.org and other well-regarded web sites for references to the PPA you're interested in. If discussion threads seem to have a low opinion of a certain PPA (or a significant portion of its packages), avoid it.

4. Try the package on a non-production or "data clean" system first. This way, if the package does something you don't like, or you suspect that the package is up to something nefarious, you're limiting your risk to a system you can afford to wipe clean. A good way to do this without investing in new hardware is to use virtualisation software, like Linux-KVM or VirtualBox.

Just like any other technological innovation, PPAs can be (and are) a double-edged sword. They can make your life easier through the provision of enhanced features and/or timely updates, but they can also be used to compromise systems and steal data. A little self-education can go a long way toward protecting your system and information from malicious packages while enhancing your system's functionality.

TIP 1: join the community, hang out on IRC or the forums. talk to people, help people with issues, share ideas (or code/artwork for that matter ). this will get you a lot further than being a ass whining for help in #linuxmint-help channel or forums

TIP 2: learn from linux

really, learning about linux or general computing is gonna help you a lot. fiddle with it, try things out, if u break things (which u will, thats just a FACT) learn from it. but remember keep enjoy learning from it. it shoud be fun remember?

that are just my 2 cents for now.. maybe i will put more on this.

(i am NOT part of the gizmodo team or related to them, just before anyone askes;) )